


Reprieve

by DoorIsAjar



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Angst, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insomnia, Nightmares, Sleep, Sleep Deprivation, care
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 04:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15016985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoorIsAjar/pseuds/DoorIsAjar
Summary: "It is a cycle; rinse and repeat and hope reprieve eventually comes in the form of dream-less slumber."Lucina's dreams are of fire licking at her heels and castle walls that tremble under their own weight. Lissa discovers that beds are too soft for one who has never had that luxury before.





	Reprieve

She's exhausted. But it's not as if sleep will come to her. She's tried - countless time - but she's either left staring at the ceiling for hours on end or run out of her dreams by a fire-fueled nightmare.

So she strips the blanket from her body and takes up her sword. She's convinced herself, as she patrols the castle, the completely safe castle, that she is protecting these people. She will not let them die, unlike in her own future, where the last memories she carries of them are of swords plunging into their stomachs and of smoke filling their lungs until they collapse in a heap.

Despite the memories that haunt her subconscious, she can't avoid sleep forever. She walks the halls until the walls look comfortable against which to lean. She brings her knees up to her chest and settles Falchion within her embrace, hoping sleep will be nothing but an expanse of darkness. But fire licks at her heels in her dreams, and the castle walls tremble under their own weight. The sound of crying echoes in her ears, and the stench of death and decay is a permanent fixture.

She wakes in a gasp come morning, but if anything, exhaustion is more heavily laced in her bones now than it had been a few hours ago. Her body demands rest, but sleep is nothing but counterproductive.

It is a cycle; rinse and repeat and hope reprieve eventually comes in the form of dream-less slumber.

 

* * *

 

There's a hand on her shoulder, warm and light, and for some reason she can't decipher, fear doesn't instantly propel her awake, although she does try to see beyond the haze of slumber who is there. She doesn't know who is touching her, but it's... comforting.

"Lucina, wake up."

The voice is feminine, but it's also muddled a bit by sleep. And Lucina knows, when she speaks, her words are congested by the sleep from which she has barely escaped.

"Yes..?" Her sword is gripped to her chest, and her hold tightens, finding comfort in the familiar metal and worn sheath.

"What are you doing out here?"

Her eyes weave shut, just as the hand on her shoulder gives her a gentle squeeze.

"Could... Couldn't sleep..."

Which doesn't make sense on its own because that is exactly what she was doing.

"And you're comfy sleeping here?"

Propped up against a wall, it sure doesn't sound comfortable. But sometimes the bed feels far too suffocating, far too fluffy compared to what she had to make due with in the future.

"Mmm..."

The voice stalls, and if not for the hand, Lucina would have assumed the girl to have left.

"I'll join you."

Suddenly a warmth blossoms against her side as the girl leans against her, and nimble fingers glide the sword out of Lucina's hold.

"You don't need that. You'll be plenty safe."

She's never believed that before, but for now, she does. Lucina lets herself believe that she's safe because for once she is heading off to sleep with warmth and a body and a reminder that she saved this person - that she saved this future.

"Are you sure you're comfortable, Lucina?"

She lets her eyes curl open, and the world around her is a dark haze, fuzzy as the tendrils of exhaustion fight to consume her once again. But she catches the blond hair and bright, childish eyes of her much younger aunt. For a moment, her eyes trick her, and there's blood tainting the golden locks and running rivers around and over a bruised eyelid.

But then her hand is trapped between two much warmer ones, and her world focuses once more, and she's greeted by equally-warm eyes, eyebrows downturned, and it's clear Lucina has somehow made her fear known.

"Lucina?"

The wall is hard and cold, but it's not suffocating and a reminder of what she has lost. It's also not comfortable, as she's been asked.

"The bed is too soft."

Her aunt's eyebrows soften. Lucina doesn't want pity, and she hopes that is not what Lissa feels.

"We'll fix that tomorrow. We can find one that's not so soft."

Lucina wants to sigh, but she swallows the sensation down. There's more to that, there's more to it than just a fluffy bed, but she doesn't know how to explain that. How does one go about explaining the illogical fears of the mind, the incessant need to walk and protect and find assurance that this world will not crumble, this castle will not fall?

"That... probably won't fix everything that's wrong. But it's a start," Lissa says.

The two hands grip her more fiercely, and she can almost imagine she's eight, wrapped in a hug by her Aunt Lissa because the woman loves her like her own child. She's practically consumed by the embrace, the folds of Lissa's robes surrounding her, but now her bed is too soft because she can never be eight again and feel absolute security within the arms of her aunt or her father or her mother or anyone because they're dead.

"Does anyone know?"

Lucina furrows her eyebrows in confusion, but it clicks together as Lissa's eyes quickly dart to Falchion.

"You wander the halls."

She walks until the walls look inviting enough to curl up against. And sometimes that's not enough, so she'll walk until she feels safe, until the only noise she can hear is her own footsteps. Only then will she give in and let exhaustion tell her to find sleep against the concrete mass.

"No."

Lucina notices the bundle of fabric within Lissa's arms as she diverts her eyes, unwilling to make eye contact. It's likely a blanket, and her assumption is proven correct as her aunt unfolds the material and begins wrapping it around Lucina's farthest shoulder and then her own, cocooning them together

"Your secret's safe with me. But hopefully a new bed will help with some of this."

"It's quite all right."

She's not certain she wants to keep talking. She appreciates Lissa's care, and the warmth that is trapped between them under the sheet is pleasant compared to the warmth of sweat sticking to her skin, blanket suffocating and choking her as nausea pools in her stomach at the overbearing sensation of a bed far too soft for her to stomach.

Lissa scoots closer, shoulders knocking together, and her heels scrape against the cobbled ground until her toes poke at Lucina's boots.

Lucina's mouth suddenly feels full, and her heart clenches because she's not certain she wants to expose herself like this. Words tumble from her lips in an in-eloquent heap. "After mother and father died, you became like a mother to me. We were close before then, but... it was different once they were gone."

Lissa remains quiet, but her attention is rooted on Lucina. She waits, patiently, as her niece struggles to find her next words.

"You didn't leave the castle much to fight. Everyone was too scared you would be killed, and that would have left them with an inexperienced child for an Exalt."

Lucina. Their next in line was Lucina, and a chill runs down Lissa's spine because that is exactly what happened.

"But they needed more healers. Everyone was dying, and you volunteered one day, and... and you didn't return. A-Alive, at least."

Her hold tightens on Lissa's hand, unbearably so, but it is not enough to stave off tears.

Lissa hesitates as her heart clenches, but she ignores the ache in her chest as she pulls Lucina into her arms. The older girl returns the embrace and buries her face in her aunt's shoulder, tears seeping into her nightgown.

"I-I know I'm just a little kid, really, but I'm here for you if you need anything. I'm still your aunt."

Lucina nods against her, and her hands ball up tufts of fabric from the back of her aunt's sleeping wear.

She hopes tonight that fire does not chase her and that her lungs remain smoke-free.

 

* * *

 

Lissa wakes with a sore back, and her neck burns as she tilts it upward, aching from its ridiculously uncomfortable position.

But beside her sleeps Lucina, head resting partly on her shoulder, partly against the concrete wall behind them, and one hand is loosely linked with Lissa's.

And everything feels right. Because Lucina has faced more death than Lissa can imagine. Lucina was flung into leadership as a child, and she was given the task of literally saving the world, and with the weight of that on her shoulders, Lucina should have crumbled forever ago.

And if stress pours from these outlets - from an inability to sleep and from an illogical fear that she must keep these castle walls standing - the least Lissa can do is this.

Lucina mumbles something in her sleep beside her, fingers twitching lightly, and Lissa feels a strange surge of the need to protect wash through her. Lucina has protected them all, and Lissa hopes she can, at the very least, protect her dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> I really like seeing Lucina interact with different characters. I also like to think that Lucina, once her parents died, became a lot closer to her Aunt Lissa; so I wanted to try writing something of them after Lucina had returned to the past. I hope you have enjoyed reading.


End file.
